The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Independent

  • Platform to upskill independent artists

    Platform to upskill independent artists

    Teamsam Digital, independent digital music distribution platform, has reiterated its commitment to empowering independent artists and rights-holders.

    Founded by entrepreneur and journalist, Sam Adedoyin, the platform’s mission is  to help musicians seamlessly distribute and monetise their music across major streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube Music, and more, while revolutionising how artists share their creativity with the world.

    A statement by his media office said: “Sam Adedoyin…originally founded Teamsam in 2015 as a talent and influencer management agency based in Africa. After experiences as creator community manager at Vskit app and later TikTok in West Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, where he supported over 15,000 influencers, Sam leveraged his expertise to evolve Teamsam into Teamsam Digital. His five years at TikTok focused on building content creators, brands, businesses, and musicians in Africa and Europe, providing him with insight in digital music and content industry.

    “Teamsam Digital’s roots as a talent and influencer management agency laid a foundation for its expansion into music distribution. The brand’s evolution was driven by a mission to serve independent artists and record labels by helping them get their music heard globally. This commitment is evident in the comprehensive services Teamsam Digital offers…’’

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    “Artists who distribute their music through Teamsam Digital benefit from free promotion once their music is released. The platform invests in its artists by providing promotional support designed to help them reach new audiences. Every release receives hands-on support at no extra cost, including 50 custom TikTok promotional videos featuring the artist’s track and placement in 5 curated playlists to boost exposure and streams.

    “With global distribution capabilities, Teamsam Digital ensures that artists can reach listeners in every country where streaming services operate. The platform simplifies the upload process, allowing musicians to distribute their music to major platforms in just a few simple steps. Collaboration is made effortless with automatic royalty splits, where Teamsam Digital handles all payments, freeing artists from administrative burdens. Importantly, artists retain 80% of their royalties, reflecting the platform’s commitment to fair compensation.

    “Teamsam Digital is more than just a distribution platform; it is a partner for independent artists seeking to grow their audience and monetize their music fairly and effectively. Founded by Sam Adedoyin, whose rich background in content creation and influencer management uniquely positions the company, Teamsam Digital continues to empower musicians in Africa and beyond to share their talents with the world.”

  • How consumer commission became financially independent, by CEO  

    How consumer commission became financially independent, by CEO  

    Executive Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), (formerly Consumer Protection Council), Babatunde Irukera, has said the agency is self-funded and autonomous.

    “The FCCPC is now completely autonomous, not funded by the Treasury; unable to afford the work it needs to do so that’s a very big, difference. The agency has also moved through the years in developing capacity internally, developing its credibility externally, and its respect,” he said.

    Irukera said despite advice of the National Assembly to increase its revenue projections from N14 billion to N20 billion, the commission had already surpassed the figure three times.

    According to him, 40 per cent of its revenue goes to the Federal Government. He added that last year, it credited huge funds to the Treasury.

    On how the agency is sustaining itself financially, he said: “What we’ve done is to do the work, broadly, deeper. We’ve also completely rejected levying other consumers, so that we can develop a complete resolution portal where there is a USSD fee, the consumer space, tokens. We do not charge consumers for complaints. We also do not license companies. We don’t approve any products. We don’t want to take any monies from companies in the name of registration or licence so that we would not have any conflicts. We’ll be able to go against them and so our revenue is not really from them. The only fees we charge is merger notification fees. This is customary globally.

    Two companies want to merge and as a service in analyzing that, there’s a cost reflective charge to that service. That’s it. But the vast majority of the revenue comes from penalising infractions.”

    On challenges encountered by the agency, Irukera said: “Now is the capacity issue, both from the knowledge gap. Then there is number of people issue. We are talking about 230 something people and 774 local governments in this country. About 220 million people and everybody is consuming something every day and like you said, the money covers everything. So, capacity is one of the key factors and how quickly we can scale up both from a numbers standpoint, and then from a talent and knowledge standpoint, that is the biggest challenge.

    We have a very diverse, large country, covering the country and our customer education effort, just running the multiple languages. So finding the right mechanisms and the right strategies requires quite some dedication of resource and intentionality. Again, managing relationships sometimes can slow down some of the most important intervention required.”

    He spoke on areas where success has been recorded. “It depends on what you consider the colour of success. For instance, one of the things people consider failure in a manner of speaking is actually a success. The biggest criticism we have is that there are many complaints that are unresolved. But you know why? Because people are now complaining and people are complaining because now people have confidence in the rights enforcement mechanism that exists and in any case, there is no consumer protection authority that’s going to succeed by resolving consumer complaints.

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    And I’m going to get a pass mark on that because the better you do, the more complaints and just like you said, just look under the scope, we are everywhere. Just to take banking for instance. Think about how many banks in banking or telecoms, see how many countries, and then take food, how many carbonated soft drink companies alone, not to mention biscuits, sausages, and all of that. So there is no way you can have one composite complete regulatory authority down to a system that works for businesses to resolve the complaints themselves.”

    Irukera expressed optimism that in few years, the agency would be crucial to the economy.

    “We’ve seen our role in it, seen our role in the Constitution and we understand what the FCCPC is. In the constitution of the Federal Republic, Chapter Four says it is the duty of government, the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary to ensure that wealth and the means of production are not concentrated in just a few hands.

    What the constitution say is that shared prosperity is a fundamental factor in Nigeria. So once we’ve positioned ourselves in that way, and able to see a government roadmap, that shows the future of the agency and it’s relevant to economic growth,” he said.

    He said the agency allocates resources based on challenges in each sector, adding that allocations are based on prioritising.

    “We allocate our resources based on the challenges in each of the sector. We don’t have that much and that’s why we are allocating based on prioritization. We do not the deprioritise and foster any specific symptoms but when you look at what national priorities are, for instance, things that affect people that’s key, education, for instance, you’ll see us getting involved in investigations about things happening in school environment. Recently, Premier Academy took us to court in trying to prevent us from conducting an investigation.

    “So if people are going to entrust their children to you, you must be concerned about the quality of care. We were engaged in also doing college investigation in Lagos and the outcome of the cases in court with respect to Premier Academy, the court decided that the FCCPA not only just provide the FCCPA with power but actually mandated as a matter of duty to engage and investigate those cases. In healthcare, you would see that we’ve had a bunch of investigations; it was a premier hospital, Medical Center. Just one of the many food value chains; agricultural, lots of investigation in all kinds of other cases in the healthcare space. Beyond that, we have promoted a patient’s bill of rights and we were going from place to place in domesticating it and trying to strengthen the responsiveness and sensitivity framework of medical facilities to patients,” he said.

    On how the agency avoids overlap functions with other sister agencies, he said: “There are overlaps and those overlap, sometimes it is natural. Those overlaps are not legislative failures. They’re not regulatory failures. They are model. Everywhere in the world, you can tell what a country prioritizes by the nature of the regulatory framework and so in areas where you find overlap, you choose the most important things. And so for instance, in food, look at the United States, for instance, consumer protection authorities, you’ve got US FDA, all kinds of other people to make sure that these things are safe.

    “And so those overlaps are not confusion or failure list. What is required is for the regulators in the space to figure out how to bring their own competencies and leverage on what their expertise is, to make sure that things are done as best as possible because we’re young, and we’ve experienced pushback from other regulators. I’d say that in the period that I’ve been here, engaging other regulators and working with them hasn’t been as problematic as history of what it was prior to when I got here. But understandably, and this is the case globally also, that sometimes, there seems to be lack of alignment between the sector regulator, and the overall regulator like the FCCPC. We work on it on a daily basis to address these overlaps. There are strategic instruments also for instance, the FCCPAC mandates regulators to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the FCCPC.”

  • Daily Independent, Champion: two of a kind

    Daily Independent, Champion: two of a kind

    Times are changing in the newspaper industry in the country. The economic realities have made many newspapers to adjust into new ways of doing things to keep afloat.

    Many newspapers have trimmed pagination to 32 unless there is compelling need to do more. A lot more have reduced print-run. Their emphasis now is on generating revenue.

    Some newspapers have abandoned printing of copies except it is compelling. Among those in this category are Daily Independent and Champion. They now produce e-copy and on-lines versions.

    Daily Independent, which was headed by a Chief Operating Officer (COO), the late Dr. Doyin Mahmud was funded by Chief James Ibori, the former Governor Delta State has now moved from the sprawling office complex they used on WEMPCO Road, Ogba, Lagos to a smaller office within the vicinity. The pioneer Editor was Greg Obong-Oshotse, a former staff of The Guardian.

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    The paper came into the market as a weekly in August 2001, with a unique package akin to the US Today. Its sections like News, Business, Politics, Life and Sports were designed as stand-alone from the whole package. Its length was longer than the regular paper of today. However, the management of paper was forced to return to the normal size of newspaper because of newspaper vendors alleged complaints on the marketability of such product. Readers also claimed it was too tasking to read the paper without folding it.

    Few years later, it went daily. Their old office is now occupied by a television station.

    For Champion, it started at Ilasamaja, Lagos in the 1980s and bank-rolled by businessman/politician Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu. It was headed by Chief Henry Odukomaya, the man who also pioneered Concord Group of newspapers, funded by the late Chief Moshood Abiola in 1980. Like Daily Independent, Champion has a unique selling point in sports reporting. Seasoned sport writer like Paul Bassey was on the sports desk of the paper which became the choice of most sports lovers.

    The Ilasamaja office has been sold to an international firm Promasido, which now operates there.

    Champion, which went into the doldrums, has returned publishing e-copy. But, it does print hard copy sparingly whenever occasion demands. 

  • ‘Independent power generation ‘ll save airports’ running costs’

    THE Federal Government has been called upon to allow airports to generate their own power for better airport facilities, seamless travels and increased revenue.

    An aviation consultant and former Director of Operations at Nigeria Aviation Handling Company Limited (NAHCO), Mr. Herbert Odika, stated this in an interview  in Lagos.

    He said  Nigerian aviation industry has taken a negative dive in terms of infrastructural growth.

    Odika explained that airports would remain stagnant, if power supply remained epileptic with generating plants consuming a huge chunk  of their revenues.

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    He said: “1000KVA generator that they run at the airport uses a drum of diesel every hour and a drum of diesel is about N300, 000. So, how do you become viable, if you look at your overhead cost.

    “The government should allow airports to generate their own power; that will bring a huge saving to the airport, especially the few major airports in Nigeria.”

    According to the aviation expert, the airports are not viable in spite of the inauguration of new terminals.

    He added that passengers’ traffic had not been encouraging.

  • Nigeria not as independent as imagined

    HISTORIANS often say poetically of colonialism that “The forcible possession of our people (slave trade) has given way to the forcible possession of our land (colonial rule)”. Furthermore, the perceptive patriarchs of Africa’s decolonisation struggles also warned that political independence did not amount to complete independence when the economy remained shackled to foreign powers and post-independence leaders still thought in terms of the philosophical confines of their former colonial rulers. Neocolonialism, the progressive and thoughtful among them chorused, is as pernicious and deadly as colonialism itself because it deploys economic, political and cultural pressures to control and influence dependent countries.

    If you ever thought Nigeria was independent in any sense of the word, you had not looked closely at Nigerian leaders who are not only unimaginative and timid, but are indistinguishable from house Negroes — and you had not read what the acting British high commissioner Harriet Thompson told the Nigerian senate leadership last week in Bukola Saraki’s office. Hear her reporting the meeting to the press: “We met with the Senate President and the Majority Leader of the Senate in order to talk about very important legislative business that the National Assembly should undertake even before the elections especially with the start of the official campaign period at the weekend. We are very pleased to hear from both the leader of the majority and the Senate President that there is a great commitment to continue their important work.” She claimed to be delivering the message to the Nigerian parliament on behalf of the United Kingdom and the international community.

    Addressing the media after the meeting, the high commissioner said she was pleased to get a commitment from the parliamentary leaders to continue their important work. She said a few more things that gave clear indication that Nigeria remains truly subservient. In his new book, former president Goodluck Jonathan also made reference to how the United States virtually browbeat him and the Nigerian government over the 2015 elections. Well, now, it is clear that Nigeria is not independent, and certainly the present set of leaders cannot help procure that independence. Neither President Buhari nor his challenger, ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar, can be trusted with fighting for that independence. Former Asian vassal states have nearly all seized their independence and become captains of their own souls, and they have much to show for their efforts. But African leaders are busy pussyfooting over their destinies and quaking in their boots before the West. Those among them who show some courage are conspiratorially denied the chance of winning office or are bumped off altogether, perhaps because they lack the requisite wisdom and tactics to procure real change. Who will save Africa and restore their dignity? As for Nigeria, alas, the waiting game will continue for much longer than this election cycle, as the country remains enshrouded by gloom and despondency. If only their slave-trading and slave-holding great-great-grandfathers had seen the future. And sigh upon sigh; if only their children were not chips off the old block, and as blind as their forebears and destitute of common sense.

  • Wanted: An ‘independent’ INEC

    Electoral bodies have the responsibility of conducting elections to enable citizens exercise their franchise to elect their leaders.

    Whoever secures the votes of the majority is entrusted with the mantle of leadership and it is to him that the electorate surrendersits political and financial rights.

    The choice of the majority may not always be the right one, and, although the minority will have its say, politics is a numbers game, so, the majority will have its way.

    But if privileged minorities force their will on the majority (which, in my view, has continued for too long in our country) it is an invitation to bad governance. There is a direct correlation between free and fair elections and good governance. In fact, the most certain way to ensure accountable leadership is a free and fair ballot system.

    It is often said that elections in Nigeria since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999, have been anything but acceptable. There is thus a need for concerted efforts to right the wrongs.

    The first step, in my opinion, is to identify the wrongs that have corrupted the system and cheated the majority of their choices for too long.

     

    The Constitution and the Independent National Electoral Commission (Establishment) Act

    Sometimes, the problem is caused by the inadequacies in the enabling legislation: the Independent National Electoral Commission (Establishment) Act 2004.  It might also be the absence of the will power to implement the safeguards for independence and good polls as provided and stipulated in the Act.

    The prevailing attitude of indifference by Nigerians as if they are resigned to the impossibility of achieving the desired objective must be discouraged. Nigerians must begin to see themselves as the beginning of the change – an ‘it begins with me’ attitude.

    The 1999 Constitution (as amended) and INEC Act have copious provisions for INEC’s independence.

    But, do these provisions merely express an intention of independence for the electoral body or do they cloth the electoral body with actual independence?

    Section 158 of the Constitution provides for the independence of certain federal executive bodies, to wit: “In exercising its powers to make appointments or to exercise disciplinary control over persons, … the Independent National Electoral Commission, shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.”

    Similarly, the INEC Act in Section 6 provides that “In the discharge of its functions under this Act, the commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.”

     

    How legislation undermines INEC’s independence

    Do these provisions really guarantee the independence of the electoral body? Is it enough to state that the commission should be independent when the independence is given by the right hand and essentially taken away by the left?  How is the leadership of the electoral body appointed and what is the source of its funding?

    The Constitution and the Act are silent on the funding of the electoral body despite providing for the appointment of the leadership of the electoral body.

    On appointment, Section 154(1) of the Constitution provides that the INEC chairman shall be appointed by the president subject to confirmation by the senate. The President also reserves the right to remove him from office albeit on an address supported by two-third majority of the senate – Section 157 (1) of the Constitution.

    In a polity like ours, I dare to say that the mode of appointment of the head of the electoral body makes it susceptible to manipulation by the Presidency and to maintain an unholy loyalty to the president as experience has shown thus far.

    There must be something fundamentally wrong with the system as we operate it here that has made nearly all the leadership of the electoral body under whatever nomenclature since independence to have failed or performed really poorly.

    From Eyo Esua, Michael Ani, Victor Ovie-Whiskey, Ema Ewa, Humphrey Nwosu, Ephraim Akpata, Prof Okon Uya, Abel Guobadia, Maurice Iwu to Prof Atahiru Jega and now Mohammed Yakubu, our elections have always lacked the acceptability element of results of elections which electoral bodies in other climes enjoy.

    For instance, EyoEsua, who led the first indigenous electoral body in the country, organised the first post-independence federal and regional elections of 1964 and 1965. The December 1964 election was marred by controversy and confusion which led to a military coup in 1966.

    The result of the Michael Ani-led commission, which conducted the election that ushered in the Second Republic government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari on October 1, 1979, was rejected by the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo who challenged Shagari’s election in court but lost.

    The elections conducted by Justice Ephraim Akpata that ushered in the Obasanjo’s government in 1999 did not carry any wide acceptability or approval.

    Maurice Iwu conducted the elections that were perhaps the most controversial in the nation’s history. Even the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua admitted that the election that made him president in 2007 was flawed. By the time his tenure expired he had perhaps no goodwill left, that his appointment was not renewed.

    After those era came Prof. Atahiru Jega and now Mohammed Yakubu. The outcries against controversial elections have still not changed. However, the situation does not seem to be as absurd as it was in the recent past. At least, there are hardly many incidences of number of votes outnumbering number of registered voters. Whether that is as a result ‘of the bird learning to fly without perching because of the improvement of the shooter’s prowess, is another issue.

    All over the world an aligned electoral body no matter how slight the alignment is, has done a polity no good and it cannot be different for our country.

    With the experience in Nigeria since the return of democracy in 1999, one can say with almost no fear of contradiction that the ‘INEC’ has been anything but independent. From Abel Guobadia to Maurice Iwu, to Jega and now, Mohammed Yakubu they have always maintained a leaning, most commonly to the ruling and appointing authority.

    The then ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) enjoyed the revered privilege of being in control of the ‘INEC’ for so long (sixteen years) and during the period the other political parties were at their mercy and most likely envious of PDP’s position of influence over the electoral body.

    What we see presently with the state electoral commissions is clear proof. Just as it has always been with the other states, Edo State recently conducted its Local Government elections and the results released by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (ESIEC) shows that the ruling party won in all the 18 local governments in the state. It is almost the same in all the states.

    To be continued next week

  • NKIRUKA OMEILI – I was raised to be independent

    NKIRUKA OMEILI – I was raised to be independent

    Multiple award-winning actress, Nkiruka Omeili, has been scandal-free since her Nollywood debut. The medical doctor, actress and TV presenter, fondly called Kiki, is popular for movies like “Married but Living Single,” “Lekki Wives,” “Sting,” “Couple of Days”, among others. Kiki who obtained a medical degree from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos tells Adetutu Audu why she holds integrity and principles very dearly.

    You are known to act antagonistic roles, would you say they are coincident?

    Well, I think it’s a case of the most popular roles being antagonistic roles. I also play a lot of roles where ‎my character is the victim. I just think the “antagonistic” roles are more popular.

    Would you say you have abandoned medical practice for acting?

    I didn’t ‘abandon’ medicine. I actually don’t like it when people say that. I’m actively involved in health advocacy and awareness. I am a U-report advocate (a UNICEF subsidiary) and always lend my voice to causes such as cervical cancer prevention. Even my short film, ‘Unprotected’, was to promote health awareness; once a doctor, always a doctor. There’s more than one way to practice medicine.

    How easy was it for you moving from medicine to acting?

    It was not an easy transition for me, from medicine to acting.  It took a lot of doggedness, hard work, perseverance, dedication, patience, determination, countless auditions and rejections. I’m glad that I made it look easy though. That might inspire or encourage more people to pursue their passion.

    When you are offered a role, what do you do next?

    The first thing I do is to read the script. If I can visualise the character from the script and the story sits well with me, then I take it from there. I learn everything about the character. Her backstory, what informs her decisions about several things, and then, if need be, I do the necessary research to help me adequately interpret the character.

    Which is your most memorable moment during the course of your career?

    To be honest, every time my work is appreciated is very memorable for me. It is great to be recognised for doing good work. That being said, winning the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the African Film Awards in 2012, winning the GIAMA award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015 and winning the award for Best Actress at Short Film Festival stand out for me.

    How challenging has it been over the years?

    Acting is hard work; that is a fact. It requires a lot of discipline and dedication. So, it’s not easy. There is also a lot of competition, so one constantly has to reinvent the wheel and prove oneself.

    How do you keep fit as an actor mentally?

    As soon as I’m done with a role, I try to purge myself of the character. It’s possible to get in so deep that one continues to behave like the character even after filming. I just go back to my life and the things and people I love.

    How do you take a character in a script to an honest, believable and breathing person physically?

    As I said, if I can visualise myself in the role, then I believe it. And if I believe it, then the audience believes it. The character comes to life. I’m just the tool through which that happens.

    Describe a memorable character you once played

    Blessing in Walter Banger’s “Gbomo Gbomo Express” will always stand out for me. She was a pidgin-speaking, gun-wielding, uncouth and rough-around-the-edges kind of girl. To pull that off believably is still such a thrill for me.

    Has it been rewarding being an actor and has the take home pay been taking you home?

    I like the way you put that. “Has the take home pay been taking you home?” (Laughs). I’ve had a very rewarding career as an actor. I’ve had the opportunity to play a lot of diverse roles, and that’s something that I’m very grateful for.

    Truth be told, in the beginning, the remuneration was nothing to write home about. But with more recognition and more work under my belt, it’s a world better. So, yes, it does take me home. (Laughs).

    What is your success secret?

    My attitude to work and life in general; I like to keep it positive.

    Who are those who influence you in life – the good, the bad and the ugly?

    My parents have been my greatest influences. I thank them every day for the way I turned out.

    They did a fabulous job, if I say so myself. I honestly can’t think of anybody who has influenced me negatively.

    You once said there are two kinds of people in the entertainment industry in Nigeria; those who are popular for their talent and those popular for just being popular. What do you mean by ‘just being popular’?

    I mean some people are famous for being famous. You can’t really pinpoint what it is that they do that makes them popular. They are not actors, musicians, politicians, designers, writers, producers, or models.

    Asides the fact that you a trained medical doctor, what else would you have been doing if you weren’t acting?

    I would probably be a writer. I have been writing since I was a child and my mum actually encouraged me, but writing is so intellectually tasking and takes up so much time. I should probably find the time to do more of that. I actually wrote the story of the film that I produced, ‘Unprotected’.

    Describe yourself

    I am God-fearing, down-to-earth, and happy-go-lucky. Hard-working and passionate about work. I love music and movies. I love to sing (and even rap). I am a person of integrity and proud of my heritage. That’s me, I guess.

    What is one thing you hold dearly?

    I hold my integrity and principles very dearly. I cannot compromise my integrity to fit in or be accepted. I cannot do without movies! I’m a couch potato. I watch all sorts of movies and TV series, both local and international.

    You once forced Time magazine to do a retraction on the interview you granted, what really went wrong?

    I did in 2014. I granted the interview and the interviewer didn’t have a tape recorder. She later mixed up her notes‎ and wrote that I dropped out of medical school.

    The fact that I am a medical doctor and never failed a single course when I was in medical school is a thing of pride for me. It was not easy to get that degree. It took a lot of hard work, discipline and dedication. So when I read that, I knew that I‎ wouldn’t rest until they printed a retraction. I have “Law Allianz” to thank for that. That’s the law firm that handled the case for me.

    What’s your style secret?

    I keep it classy, sexy and, most importantly, comfortable.

  • Act on electoral offences tribunal, independent candidacy, Bourdex tasks Senate

    Act on electoral offences tribunal, independent candidacy, Bourdex tasks Senate

    All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Board of Trustees member, Dr. David Onuoha-Bourdex, has expressed surprise that the Senate did not go the whole hog to strengthen the Electoral Act by prescribing stiffer punishment for poll offenders.

    While commending the 8th Senate for the bold and timely review of the 2010 Electoral Act, he noted that apart from legislating fines for electoral officers that may engage in tampering and manipulation of votes, there is need for an electoral offences tribunal.

    Bourdex, who was the APGA Senatorial candidate for Abia North District in the 2015 National Assembly Election, disclosed that experience has shown that whenever such revolutionary legislations, as the inclusion of full electronic voting are made, unscrupulous politicians begin to explore loopholes.

    “Therefore because of imperfection of human insight, there is need to institute electoral offences tribunal to show seriousness over electoral malfeasance. It is the lack of appropriate mechanism to punish offenders that has helped to embolden enemies of real democracy to breach the law,” he stressed.

    Recalling the imperfections of the 2015 election, the telecom expert noted that the use of incidence forms proved a ready gateway for unpopular candidates to undermine popular vote, insisting that until there is institutional checks and enforcement mechanism, good laws will remain impotent in addressing flaws in Nigeria’s electoral system.

    The APGA BoT member urged the National Assembly to use the opportunity of constitutional reforms to ensure that all loopholes for toying with the civic decisions of the citizens were blocked.

    He suggested that school enrolment and number of taxpayers should be applied as necessary controls to check the number of registered voters, adding that the allegation of under-aged voting in certain polling units was not entirely frivolous.

    His words: “It beats every sane imagination that certain areas with high voting population do not return commensurate tax returns and school enrolment figures. This new thinking about our electoral system should incorporate school enrollment and internal revenue generation to shadow voting numbers.

    “Also as electoral officials are punished, efforts should be made to equally punish their collaborators, the parties and candidates. All in all, citizen vigilance remains the greatest check against electoral malfeasance. Therefore, the electoral body should increase voter enlightenment and education on what constitute electoral offences.”

    Bourdex renewed his call that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be the respondent on election petitions, pointing out that the cost of losing election petitions should also ginger INEC to ensure the credibility of elections it conducts.

    To ensure full democratization of the electoral process, Onuoha-Bourdex implored the National Assembly to make room for independent candidacy, stressing that that was a sure way to limit the extortionist propensity of some party leaders, who use the platform for trading purposes.

    “With independent candidacy, communities can elect a preferred candidate even when the political parties do not consider him or her; it would also offer opportunity to responsible people who detest the dirty side of partisan politics, to participate in politics and serve the people,” he stated

  • How Kwara can become financially independent through non-oil export

    A large number of states in Nigeria are running on avoidable deficits due to overdependence on centrally allocated crude-oil dependent revenues. Many of the state governments came into power with the mindset of getting monthly allocation from the federation account but the decline in the oil price and the lingering slowdown due to destruction of oil pipeline and installations have dashed many hopes. Unpaid salaries, uncompleted and abandoned projects and many socio-economic and political challenges are many states due to paucity of funds.

    In this article, I will be focusing on how Kwara State can become financially independent through aggressive drive for non-oil exportation. According to BudgIT, Kwara is among the states in Nigeria that is running at a huge deficit. This is because the total income realisable from both the internally generated revenues and the federal allocation are grossly inadequate to meet the recurrent expenditure talk less of the capital expenditures.

    My position has been that all the states in Nigeria have what it takes to internally fund their budgets and survive independently of the federal government allocation. To achieve this, they only need to focus on two major sectors namely; agriculture and non-oil export. The strategies put forward in this article are capable of not just helping the states to generate revenue and become self-sufficient, in addition to this, it will also help them to create numerous jobs for their teeming population.

    Kwara is blessed with very large land mass that is suitable for the production of different kind of exportable agricultural commodities, but in this article, our recommendation for this state is Raw cashew nut export. Even though this is a tree crop with gestation of about two years for improved varieties, but the potential upon maturity will last for many years.

    According to the Collaborative Survey by National Bureau of Statistics, Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development and Federal Ministry of Trade & Investment, this state produced about 39,000MT of raw cashew nut in 2012.

    Using the national average of about 38 per cent, this state currently has arable land that is about 1,414,080. hectares of lands. We have made some reasonable and very conservative assumptions in this analysis and these include that: the state is using just 40 per cent (565,632 hectare) of this land for cashew nut plantation

    -the yield per hectare of Cashew nut is 1MT per hectare (even though, there are varieties that can yield more than this) this yield was used to make provisions for losses that might occur during harvest -the unit price of cashew nut is $1,000/MT FOB Lagos (even though it can be as high as $1,200) -cost of farming was put at N25, 000 per hectare based on some research works -cost of exporting per metric tonne was put at N35, 000 base on the export projects I have handled in the past

    With a yield of 1MT per hectare, this means that the state can produce 565,632MT of cashew nut on the land size stated in the assumptions above. If this cashew nut is exported at a free on board (FOB) price of $1,000/MT, the total proceeds will be $565,632,000. Using a conversion rate of N310 to 1$, this amount to N175, 345,920,000. The unit cost of farming Cashew nut and exporting are N25,000 per hectare and N35,000 per MT respectively. The total cost of farming plus 50 per cent profit on the sales to the government (or to the trading company engaged by the government) comes to N21,211,200,000 and the total cost exporting (transport, documentation, freight forwarding etc) comes to N19,797,120,000. The total project cost (farming and exportation) will be about N41,008,320,000. The estimated profit that can accrue to the state on this project comes to about N134, 337,600,000.

    According to data obtained from government sources, the IGR of the state for the year 2014 was about N17,497,620,787.52. This will remain low and even drop further because it is mainly generated from the personal income tax on workers in the state most of which have not been paid for some months now. From the analysis we have done on farming and exportation of Cashew nut, the state government could grow her revenue several thousand times over and above the current level if the government can embrace this new way of thinking in their drive for revenue generation.

    The state can start this drive with the exportation of Cashew nut to meet the current financial obligations but with a plan to begin to add value and process it into Cashew Kernel which will more than triple the revenue from the raw cashew nut.

  • Independent marketers to access products

    The Federal Government has restored the rights of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to access products in all depots across the country, its chairman, Board of Trustees, Alhaji Abdulkadir Aminu said, has said..

    The action followed the resolution of the crisis that rocked the association which saw the association playing host to members of the Nigerian Association of Transport Owners (NARTO) in Abuja.

    He said: “I am sure that by the minister’s intervention in restoring all our rights across all the depots across the federation, Nigerians will have better access to products because we control 80 per cent.

    “We paid a courtesy call on the minister being a man who initiated this peace to ensure that IPMAN becomes one. He assured us that now that we have heeded to his advice, he hereby restores all our rights to all the depots in the federation.

    “With that now, we can take charge in all the petroleum products distribution in all the 21 depots in Nigeria. In no time the crisis of petroleum products scarcity will no longer exist.”

    He said the marketers’ National Executive is partnering with some multi-nationals to assist the Federal Government to make products available in the country.

    The BoT chairman added that the executive of the association will create value in the industry by ensuring they partner with foreign investors to build at least one refinery during the present administration.

    He however noted that due to the bad roads in the country, IPMAN’s trucks do not last long.

    Speaking, IPMAN’s National President, Chief Lawson Obasi, said the association plans to commence importation of petroleum products to boost the activities of the downstream sector.